One bite
by TotallyAwesome3858
Summary: It all started with a bite...
1. Chapter 1

It all started with a bite...

I warned him not to just "see how it goes."

I told him to get it checked. It was serious.

But he didn't listen.

All of this happened quite a few years ago. Well, at least it started a few years ago. On that day, with that one bite.

~Chapter One~

"Brendan! Wait up!"

"You speed up!"

I ran past all the trees and rocks to catch up with him. Brendan always liked to race. Especially now that we had beaten the Elite Four, we had plenty of time for fun. We were right around Fortree City, in Route 120. I guessed we were going to be camping out, Brendan didn't say anything about renting a room. We were eighteen, and had the whole region to ourselves.

"Brendan, come on, it's getting dark out. I can't even see where you're going!" I called out. But I got no answer. "Brendan?" Still, nothing. "BRENDAN!" I screamed. I did not want to spend the night in a dark forest by myself. I stood there, waiting for him to answer me...

Suddenly, I got grabbed around the waist. I screamed and pulled away so quickly I fell to the ground. Then I heard laughter... "Brendan! I can't believe you!"

"Sorry, May! I had to, it was just so easy!" He continued to laugh as he pulled me up.

"We'll see how much you're laughing when I leave you and go home," I threatened.

"Alright, alright. I'll stop. Come on, let's set up camp."

As we were setting up, I kept hearing branches break. I figured it was just a wild pokemon, but usually they left campsites alone... Unless something was wrong... I tried to focus on my fire.

"Okay, I got the bed set up inside. How's the fire coming?"

"Fine... but I think there's something out there."

"Well yeah there's-"

"No, I mean there's something bad out there, not just a pokemon!" I stood up to face him.

"It's okay, May. Calm down," he put his arm around me. It made my stomach do a few flips, which didn't make me feel any better. We were still kind of half way to a relationship. You know, awkwardly not official... But now was no time to think about it.

"Please, let's just go back to town." I begged. "Please!"

"May, it will only make it worse if we have to make our way through this forest at night. It will be better if we just stay here."

It felt like I was going to cry. I was terrified. My pokemon were always with me, but what if they got hurt too? "Can you at least help me with this fire?"

Brendan had a fire going in seconds, thanks to his Blaziken. I sat close to him, I was still very scared. The breaking of branches and the footsteps never stopped.

"I think we should go..." I tired starting again. But Brendan wasn't budging.

"You know what, I'm going to find that thing." He stood up, causing me to release his arm. "I'll be back."

"Brendan! No! Don't!" I tried to go after him but he already disappeared into the tall grass and trees. "Brendan!"

I didn't hear any footsteps for a few minutes. I was shaking violently. The minutes passed so slowly and quietly...

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.

"AHHH!" I heard Brendan scream, which caused me to scream even louder.

"BRENDAN?" I shouted out as loud as I could. No answer. The absolute last thing I wanted to do was go in there after him... But I had to...

Or at least I thought. A few seconds later, Brendan came out of the woods, cradling his right hand. "Brendan! Oh my god!" I ran over to him and threw my arms around him , which made him whimper with pain. My arms whipped back to me and I stared at him. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"I.. uh..."

"Brendan," I said sternly, "let me see your hand."

A shaking, bloody hand came toward me. I gasped. "Okay, we're going back to town, right now."

I had the camp packed up sloppily in seconds. Then I stomped the fire out. Brendan was quietly wrapping up his wound. "I think I'll be okay," he said.

"It doesn't matter what you think. We're going back."

"But, May I-"

"Shut up, you're going to the pokemon center and getting that looked at. What happened anyway?"

"I don't know. I was looking for the pokemon that was scaring you and it found me first. I didn't see what it was, but it bit me. It's not a big deal. Remember when we were kids and I got bit by that Zigzagoon?"

"It wasn't a Zigzagoon this time, Brendan!" I was getting frantic, so I took a deep breath. "Okay, we're obviously not safe out here. Come on, please. Please, can we get back into town."

"Fine, but I'm not going to a pokemon center."

"Fine. But if it gets any worse, you're going."

We walked back to town in silence. Mainly because I was still terrified of attracting more pokemon. Brendan was just being a baby. When we got back into Fortree town, it was just about midnight. I checked into a room while Brendan hid his hand behind me. I was so extremely annoyed with him that when we got to the room I went to bed instantly.

The next morning I woke up before Brendan. I got up and got dressed. Then I decided to wake Brendan up so we could get out and train a little. We were actually trying to buy a house... Anyway I walked up to Brendan's bed, where he had his wrapped up hand proped up next to his head. I wanted to see if it had gotten better. So, I gently moved the towel he had around it...

Then I screamed at what I saw. Brendan lept out of bed and stared at me as I covered my mouth.

"Brendan! Look at your hand!"

"What? What's wrong with it?" He shouted as he lifted his hand up. But that's the thing, nothing was wrong with it. It was completely healed. "Wow, I told you that it was no big deal."

"Brendan, stop it. You need to get this checked out! This isn't normal. I saw it last night, it was gushing blood, and crushed, and disgusting! Look at the blood on the towel! It isn't normal for it just to heal, Brendan!" I was getting angry at him. He was being so stupid.

"May, don't worry. We'll get home, and I'll talk to my dad. Okay?" He tried to touch my cheek with his hand, his right hand. I ducked away from it.

"Just hurry up," I sighed.


	2. Chapter 2

~Chapter Two~

We started on our way to Littleroot town. I wanted to take the fastest way on Brendan's Skarmory. Brendan, however, insisted that we walk.

"It will be good fro me to you know, walk it off."

"Walk what off? It's no big deal." I exaggerated my voice to sound like him.

"Don't be like that. So we'll get there a couple days later."

"Fine," I turned on my heel and stormed away from him down Route 119. It was still pretty early in the morning. So I wasn't afraid of anything trying to get me. Brendan seemed to sense my anger, he kept his distance and said nothing. All I was trying to do was look out for him. I just wanted him to be okay. He was being a complete jerk to me.

Eventually I got to the little river that separated Route 119 from 118. I turned to see if Brendan was still following me, which he was. I released Swampert and waited form him to catch up.

"May, I'm sorry. I'm very sorry. Please, can't we be friends again?"

"Only if you do everything I say."

"I promise."

"Okay then," I patted Swampert's head and returned him. "I want to fly to Littleroot."

"Done," Brendan released his Skarmory. Then he climbed up and held it hand out for me. It was his right hand, and I really didn't want to touch it... But I didn't want to start anything else. I grasped his hand, then he almost crushed mine and pulled me up with no effort at all. I landed in front of him and glanced back at him. He only smiled at me. I guessed he didn't notice. We took off and were soon high above Hoenn.

As we were flying, Brendan wrapped his arms around me. It made my stomach spin around in place. It was so weird. I didn't understand how we weren't dating... Both of acted like it. And, according to my mom, we fight like an old, married couple. Maybe it would all be in due time... Maybe...

Finally we landed in front of my house. It was only about noon. "Okay, now let's go talk to your dad," I demanded.

"Alright," Brendan returned Skarmory and we headed to the lab behind his house. I was eager to see what was wrong with him.

We entered the lad together and, for once, Professor Birch was in his lab. He wasn't doing much, just reading a book at his desk. When he saw us he jumped up.

"Since when do you two visit? Is someone dying?" He asked sarcastically while hugging us both.

"Well, it's pretty serious Dad... Um, I got bitten last night." I was surprised that Brendan actually came right out with it. I thought there would be a bit more of a struggle.

"Oh, what bit you?"

"That's the thing... We don't know. Last night we were camping in the forest up in Route 120. Then something kept going past our site, so I went out to find out what it was. Then when I was walking in the tall grass, something bit me. I didn't get to see what it was."

"Well, son, let me see," Birch took Brendan's hand and examined it. "There's nothing here?"

"Yeah, it healed up overnight."

"There's really nothing I can do if I have no mark to look at, or no sample to take. I've honestly never heard of this type of thing before... How do you feel?"

"I feel fine."

"Nothing different?"

"Nope."

"Well, I'll look it up. May, I'll call your navigator and let you know anything. Why don't you two stay close. In some cases, pokemon bites have delayed effects. You don't know if you got bitten by something poisonous, or something that causes paralysis. I want you two to stay together in case something like that happens."

"No problem," I said. "Thank you for everything, Professor." We walked outside into town and sat on the bench in front of the lab.

"So, what do you think?" Brendan asked.

"I don't know... I think we should wait it out. You heard your dad, there's really nothing to do."

"Well, I'm sure if anyone can figure it out, it's him."

We spent the rest of the day at my house. My mother welcomed us, but not like Professor Birch. She was used to me coming home almost every weekend, or at least calling. Guys don't exactly call their parents every day. We basically walked right past her, waving, and went upstairs.

"Please don't tell my mom about what happened," I requested quietly as we climbed the stairs.

"I wasn't planning on it... But can I ask why?"

"Because she's a mom, I don't think se would want to hear about it. And if you told her, she would treat you like your made of glass." Mom never did like that I was a tomboy. Brendan was my only friend basically my whole life. I just never got along with other girls.

Up in my room, we knew the routine. I got a fold out bed from my closet and set it up. After all the excitement from the night before, I could have fallen asleep at noon, but Brendan felt like talking. There was really nothing to do anyway. I didn't want to leave in case Birch told us something terrible. It's not like I wanted to be up in the mountain somewhere when Birch calls to tell me Brendan's going to die.

My room was full of memories to talk about. Brendan and I met when I moved here when I was eight. The second we knew each other's names we were inseprable. I really couldn't remember not having Brendan in my life.

"You know... I miss hanging out in here," Brendan sighed looking around. I had millions of pictures that our parents took or that we drew all over the walls.

"I do too. It's not like we don't have a lot of time anymore," I said sarcastically. For the last ten months, since we beat the Elite Four, we've been adventuring around Hoenn, trying to raise enough money to buy a house together.

"I know how you feel, May. We just need to wait a little longer. You know we're almost there."

"Yeah, to buy a house in Pacifidlog." During our adventures, we found an old shack on a few boards that they were trying to sell us. So far, that was really all we could afford. "Trainers don't exactly have a regular income..."

"We'll do just fine. I promise." Brendan walked over to me and held both of my shoulders. A thought, once again, played over in my head as I stared into his eyes.

_Now would be a good time._ My conscience had been reminding me for years now that I should kiss him. But it never happened.

"I hope so." I finally said.

The rest of the day was wasted with our memories. We talked about all the adventures we had lately, you know, before the bite. Finally, the sun went down. Brendan and I said good night to each other, and I was asleep in minutes.

My dreams were filled with horrifying images. I kept seeing Brendan's death, and my own slide into madness. Eventually, the images shook my sub-conscience mind awake. My eyes snapped open. The room was incredibly dark, and unusually quiet. I couldn't hear Brendan snoring... I sat up in bed and look to the cot next to me. It looked very empty...

"Brendan?" I whispered. No answer.

"Brendan." A little louder. Still no answer.

I took a deep breath and climbed out of my bed. Maybe he was just in the bathroom? I crept down the stairs trying not to make a noise. When I got to the kitchen, everything was dark, including the bathroom. I was shaking now, where could he be? I decided to go back up stairs. I turned on my heel and basically ran. My room was still and quieter than ever. Until I heard that creak.


	3. Chapter 3

~Chapter Three~

My heart dropped to my stomach when I realized someone was in the room with me. I went all the way downstairs for nothing, Brendan was in my room the whole time. I reached for the light switch, in an effort to scare him. But he wasn't the one that was scared.

The light filled the room, but it wasn't the only thing. I was face to face with a Mightyena standing upright, brushing its giant ears against the ceiling. It had shining red eyes and horribly long claws. It wasn't a normal Mightyena. It was ten times as terrifying.

I was paralyzed with fear. I couldn't move at all. My eyes were locked on the giant beast that stood in front of me. I wanted to turn off the light, but the switch seemed so far away. The beast finally made the first move, toward me. Its paws and nails scraped against the wood floor and made a hideous noise. I stood my ground, I didn't move. The thing got closer and closer until I felt its warm breath blowing my hair.

Suddenly, I heard a howling outside. Obviously the beast heard it too cause it turned its head to the window. Luckily, I always had it wide open. The thing jumped over to the window then jumped out. My knees gave out as I fell to the ground and fainted.

"May? May, wake up!" I opened my eyes to find that I was in Brendan's arms. The memory of last night suddenly rushed into my head. I wrapped my arms around Brendan's neck and held onto him.

"Brendan! There was something in the house last night! It was horrible!" I began to cry a little as my voice got hysterical.

"It's okay, it's okay..." He squeezed me back and held me.

"No, it's not! It was awful and it would have attacked me if it hadn't left!"

"Why did it leave? What happened?"

"I was looking for you and-" I pulled away to look at him. "Where did you go last night?"

"What do you mean?"

"You weren't in your bed last night when I woke up. You were gone, and that made me go downstairs."

"Yeah, I went back to talk to my dad cause my head was hurting. I figured it was a symptom, so I went over to talk to him and ended up falling asleep in the lab. I just got back and found you on the floor."

My mind instantly shifted. "Are you okay? What did your dad say?"

"Well, first he said that I was freaking myself out. Almost like thinking too much. I think that's what it was. As soon as I put my head down I kept running what happened through my head, then I got a killer headache. But I feel fine now."

"Are you sure?" He nodded. "Okay then, but I can't explain what I saw."

"I wouldn't doubt that you were having a nightmare. Remember when we were kids and you always used to sleepwalk and end up in the kitchen or in my bed?"

He was right. From the time that I can remember, I've had a sleepwalking problem. Since I was eight years old, Brendan and I had always slept in the same room.

"It just felt so real..." My head was spinning.

"You always say that. Everything's going o be fine."

"Alright," I got up out of Brendan's arms. "I think I'll go make breakfast."

"Sounds great!"

We decended the stairs together to see an empty kitchen and a note. I approached the table and read my mother's scribbles.

"Well," I said, "Looks like mom went out to Lilycove city..."

"It's probably for the better. You know how she hates you sleepwalking."

"That's probably why she left... I remember being downstairs last night." I groaned, "That dream was just so incredibly real!"

"Don't worry about it," he poured me a glass of berry juice. "You'll be fine. You know what though, I'm really not that hungry..."

"Yeah, something is making me loose my appetite."

"Maybe we should just-" Suddenly my navigator rang upstairs. I slammed my glass on the table and ran upstairs. My navigator was in my bed in case it rang during the night.

"Hello?" I answered it out of breath.

"Hello May! It's Birch, can you two come down to my lab. It will only take a second."

"We'll be right there!" I hung up and started to pull my clothes on. "Brendan! Get dressed!"

My heart was racing as we got to the lab, mainly cause I never stopped running. Brendan had a hard time keeping up with me.

"Hello, again," Birch greeted us. He seemed cheerful, so I figured he had good news. "The funniest thing happened last night."

"You don't say..." Brendan wheezed.

"Yeah, I was doing research when suddenly my computer completely shut down. I tried booting it back up, but it wouldn't respond to anything. So I went outside and found that all the wires had been chewed up," he laughed. "I can't tell you how many of those wires I've been through."

"What chewed it?" I asked.

"Well, I can't be sure. Usually it's a Zigzagoon or a Poochyena. I caught them a few times, but not this time. Anyway, I wanted to tell you that so far I found nothing. Honestly. But, pokemon bites are all different. If you would have been bitten by something poisonous, it would have festered, not healed. A paralysis pokemon would have had an instant effect. Same with one that would have caused you to sleep. So, I don't think you had any status effects," he laughed. "Brendan, I think the best thing you can do is not dwell on it. If you start to feel funny just come to me. Now, I'm giving you two permission to leave town, but I still want May with you always."

"Not a problem," I said. I was very disappointed that Birch found nothing. I really wanted the chance to say "I told you so."

When we left the lab, we stopped by my house to grab our things, then heading into Route 101. I had a rough idea of where I wanted to go.

"Let's go to Meteor Falls! We haven't been there in years!" I was trying to get over everything that had happened in the last couple of nights.

"Alright, that sounds fun!" Brendan released his Skarmory and once again pulled me up with one arm. It was so weird. Usually he made this big deal about how heavy I was. But now he lifts me up no problem. I decided not to say anything, how would I mention it?

We landed in Rustboro city. After the flight, I had to admit that I was hungry. Especially since I calmed down a little. We stopped at a resturant and planned out our trip inside of Meteor Falls.

It was actually much different being there for training then fighting to get through it. The last time we were here, we were trying to collect badges. Now that we were here again, it looked more beautiful than I imagined.

"This is great!" I said as we walked through the sand.

"I know, I don't remember it being so cool," Brendan said fixing his eyes on the waterfalls. "So what do you want to do?"

"I don't know..." I really didn't. "You want to search for some trainers?"

"I guess."

We actually didn't find any trainers. But we did manage to walk the entire length of the cave. Eventually, we sat down on the sand against a wall to rest. I rested my head gently on Brendan's shoulder, I was completely beat. After a while, I heard his snoring softly. I laughed a little as my mind began to wonder. I was trying to think of where to go next when something caught my eye across the cave.

I got up carefully and quietly. When I finally got over to the sparkly stone, I dusted it off to reveal it as a moon stone. I picked it up and put it in my bag. I figured it would be a cool thing to hold on to.

Brendan began to stir. "What's up?"

"Nothing," I answered. "I found a moon stone. So I wanted to pick it up."

"Oh," he stood up and stretched. "So you have any idea how to get out of here?"

"I guess so, I think we should head this way." I could see light up above us. It just took a little climbing.

Finally we got to the light, but it was just another part of the cave that was much lighter. It was moon light I was seeing. "Brendan, I'm thinking we should set up camp. I don't think I have the energy to make it out of here tonight."

"Yeah, no problem. I'm starting to get a headache anyway."

"You are? Are you okay? Should we call your dad?"

"No, no, I just think we should get some rest."

"Alright, fine." I decided not to talk about it further. Birch did say that not to dwell on it. We sent up camp on a dry part of the sand. Because of our adventuring, I was out withing seconds of laying down.


	4. Chapter 4

~Chapter Four~

The same awful images filled my dreams once again. I tossed and turned in my sleep until I was finally woken up.

I sat up in my sleeping bag. My forehead was dripping with sweat, or maybe water. I couldn't tell. We didn't have a tent with us, so we just put down our sleeping bags on the sand. I wiped off my forehead and took a deep breath. The cave was actually very peaceful. The sound of the waterfalls took away every other sound, even Brendan's obnoxious snoring. I looked over and saw him sleeping. It was a huge relief to see him actually sleeping, not wondering around with his headache.

The next morning, I woke up before Brendan did. I packed basically everything up besides his sleeping bag and him. Finally, I woke him up.

"Brendan, wake up." I gently shook his shoulder. Finally his eyes fluttered open. They looked incredibly bloodshot. "Oh my god, are you okay?"

"Huh?"

"You're eyes, Brendan. They're all red."

"Oh, I must have gotten sand in them or something... They kind of hurt." He started rubbing them.

"Well, come on then. Let's get out of here," I helped him up.

After packing, we had to do a lot of climbing, surfing, and falling. Eventually, we hit daylight. We were in Route 115 according to my navigator. I was actually very excited to go explore some more. However, Brendan wasn't feeling too good.

"May, I know you're excited, but I think it would be best if I went home."

"What do you mean? Are you okay?"

"I'm really not. I have the killer headache again."

"Well, then you can stay at my house."

"Maybe I should go alone."

"Okay. One, you are not leaving me here without a flying pokemon. Two, it's no fun without you. And three, I'm not leaving you alone. So, you might as well take me with you."

"Fine," he snapped as he released his Skarmory. He sounded very annoyed with me. After he climbed up he offered me his hand and nearly smashed mine. When I landed in front of him I glared over my shoulder. He didn't seem to notice.

Brendan was incredibly quiet durng the ride home. I guessed he was just in too much pain from his head. We landed in front of my house and I opened the door for him. He went straight upstairs.

I decided to go and talk to Birch. Brendan wasn't normally like this. He was always so cheery, even through all the stupid injuries that he had. I dialed the navigator and waited for a response.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Professor. It's May, I thought I would let you know that Brendan has another headache."

"Another? How many has he had?"

"Well there was the one last night he had before going to bed. And the night before that he went to see you about."

"May, he never came to see me about a headache."

"But, he was out of bed all night."

"When Brendan was a little kid, he always used to wonder around the house at night when he was sick. He could never sleep. Don't worry about him May. He's probably just been up for the past few nights. He'll be fine."

"Thank you Professor." I hung up the phone and sat dwn at my table. I was starting to get sick of this stupid bite. It was beginning to drive me insane. I shifted my weight and caused the Moon Stone to fall out of my pocket. I had almost forgotten about it. There was a shelf in my room where I kept all the little things like that, so I headed up stairs.

Brendan was sleeping curled up on his cot. I went over to him and gently touched his cheek. Then I had to jerk my hand back. He was boiling hot. My window was open, but it wasn't like the room was hot, it was just him. I took the cover off him and put it aside. Then I turned around and placed the moon stone on my shelf. I took one last look at Brendan before going back downstairs.

I had nothing better to do then to babysit my sick best friend. So, I pulled a book off the shelf and began to read. It was incredibly boring, though. Pretty soon I drifted off to sleep.

Once again, I had the images of death surround my dreams. This time it was slightly different. It wasn't Brendan dying, it was me. I kept trying to run away, but I was bound by something stronger then me. Not physically, but mentally. I didn't know what to do.

My eyes must have read my brains signals. I woke up sweating and panting. My heart was racing as I scanned the dark kitchen. I had obviously been asleep for hours. Suddenly I remembered that Brendan had been alone for all the time I was asleep. I got up and ascended the stairs silently.

The room was pitch black. I couldn't hear anything, except someone breathing.

"Brendan?" I whispered.

No answer, but the breathing stopped. I swallowed, but it was hard due to my dry throat.

"B-Brendan?"

Still nothing. I reached to my right for the light switch. Of course I remembered what happened last time, but what if it was Brendan. I flipped the switch and quickly discovered that it wasn't Brendan.

This time, I screamed out loud at the beast. My shriek must have enraged it. It suddenly charged right at me, knocking me backwards down the stairs. I landed hard on my stomach, I stayed there for about two seconds, not sure if I should play dead or run away. When that beast jumped down the stairs, I decided it was best to run.

I jumped to my feet and sprinted to the door. But the thing was faster than me, it beat me and blocked my only exit. My heart was pounding and my mind was racing. I stood my ground while backing up slightly. Obviously the only way out of this was to fight my way out. There had to be something in the kitchen I could use, anything...

I drug my fingers along the table as the beast watched me closely. Finally I got to a pair of sewing scissors, they weren't much, but I needed something. I threw them at the thing as hard as I could. Then I closed my eyes, I had terrible aim. I heard a horrible cry of pain, I actually hit it! But it was just in the arm. I whimpered as I prepared to be attacked.

The beast pulled the scissors out of its arm and trew them back at me. Luckily I ducked them, but they were thrown so hard that they hit the stack of coffee cups behind me and shattered them. I stayed on the ground, hearing the claws of the beast drag across the floor.

"Please just LEAVE!" I shrieked as it got closer to me. I'm not quiet sure what happened next. It came up to me and moved around some glass on the counter. Then I remember seeing the thing run upstairs. I'm guessing it went out the window again. Either way, I fainted.

I awoke a few hours later, when the sun was rising. The kitchen was a mess, and my body was screaming with pain. I pulled myself up using the counter. My arms and legs were shaking badly. I couldn't just leave the broken glass everywhere. So I swept up all the cups, straightened out the table, and sat down. I took a few deep breaths. That thing attacked me, it couldn't be a dream... Dreams don't hurt you...

Suddenly Brendan appeared on the staircase. "Hey May. Oh my god you look horrible."

"Brendan! I got attacked last night! That thing that I saw in the house the other night attacked me! It threw me down the stairs, so I threw scissors at it, then it threw them back and broke all the mugs!"

"You probably just missed a stair when you were sleepwalking."

"NO! I'm telling you it knocked me down the stairs! I'll show you the scissors!" I reached around on the counter, searching, but I found nothing. "I'm telling you, I threw the scissors at it and it threw them back at me!"

"May, please stop. You're really scaring me."

"_I'm _scaring you? Try being face to face with a monster!"

"You're acting crazy. Look, sit down and let me make you some tea or something to calm you down."

"Brendan, you don't understand. I've seen this thing twice now, and this time it hurt me. Don't you think it's time to be concerned?"

"I'm telling you, it's nothing. You were probably just freaking yourself out about me acting like a jerk yesterday. And I'm sorry about that. I truly am. Please forgive me?"

"I guess so," I said after a while of saying nothing at all. What real choice did I have. I needed him just as much as he needed me through all this. But did he even really need me?


	5. Chapter 5

~Chapter Five~

I was traumatized. My mind was completely sure that I was attacked. It wasn't a dream, I didn't just fall down the stairs. I was attacked.

The rest of the day after my horrible experience was spent sitting at my kitchen table. Brendan kept trying to make me feel better but it wasn't working. He wouldn't do the one thing I wanted. I gave up trying to get him to believe me. It broke my heart that he wouldn't, but I guess he had other things to focus on. So I wasn't being a complete jerk to him. It was still pretty annoying that I had to watch over him during the day and get terrorized at night.

Finally the sun went down. I was going to try and not sleep, but my aching body had other plans.

"Good night, Brendan," I whispered as I got into my bed.

"Night..." I heard from the other side of the room. It was very dark in my room. Even the window let in no light. Probably because Littleroot was so far away from anything and everything. I kept staring at the open window gently blowing the curtains until I fell asleep.

But I wasn't asleep for long. Only a couples later I was awake, sitting up in bed. I started breathing heavily. I knew what happened when I woke up in the middle of the night. My whole body was shaking. I jumped out of my bed and turned on the light. Brendan was in his bed, for once. That didn't mean that I calmed down though. I took a deep breath to try, but it didn't help. My throat was incredibly dry. I decided to go down the stairs and get a glass of water.

The kitchen was incredibly dark and quiet. I basically just felt around on the counter until I found a glass and the tab for the faucet. I filled up the cup, but I didn't get to drink. I heard the stairs creak with the weight of something much heavier than Brendan. My hand instantly flew up to my mouth to stop me from screaming. When I looked over to the staircase, I saw the two glowing red eyes.

The eyes slowly got closer and closer to me. I was, once again, paralyzed with fear. My hand slowly moved away from my mouth. I didn't want to scream, I had a feeling that I had no clue what this thing was capable of. The eyes were so close to me, I could feel the thing's warm breath moving my hair around. My first instinct was to throw my water in it's face, so I did.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" I screamed as I threw the water in it's face. It growled at me, but the eyes got smaller and smaller. It must have went back upstairs. Now I was worried about Brendan. This thing only seemed to be after things that are awake... What if I woke Brendan up?

I ran up the stairs two at a time. The light was off. I flipped the switch on, but it only made sparks fly out of the broken bulb. "Seriously?" I said to myself. I felt around the room for Brendan's cot. When I hit it, I shuffled around all the blankets to find to human laying in them. "Brendan?" I called out. No answer.

I ran out of my house, Brendan must have gotten taken. This time, I could prove it. This time, I would have a witness. I knew Birch would believe me. He had to if I told him his son had just been kidnapped. But I never made it there.

The giant beast jumped down from the lab roof and landed right in front of me. I screamed and fell backward. It growled at me, and stared through my soul with its bright red eyes. I was sure that I was dead. But it wasn't like I would know, I fainted right there in the middle of town.

The next thing I knew, I woke up in my room. I was lying on my bed. The sun outside was bright. I got up and rubbed my head. Suddenly all the awful things that happened last night exploded in my brain. I stood up to see that Brendan wasn't in his cot. I groaned and went downstairs to see him in the kitchen.

"Good morning." He said cheerfully.

"I saw the thing again last night!" I ran over to him and threw myself into his arms.

"Well of course you did, you were outside this morning."

"Yeah! It chased me out there!"

"You had a dream, May. I found you out there last night and carried you back inside."

"So you saw it to then?"

"How could I see something that you're dreaming?"

"Brendan! I wasn't dreaming it!" I ripped myself away from him. "Why won't you believe me?"

"Because that night out in the forest messed you up! You've been acting crazy ever since. There's nothing wrong with anyone, May. You just need to calm down."

"I don't need to calm down. I just need to know what's going on. Every night I see that stupid thing. And now it's trying to kill me. To top it all off, my best friend won't help me out!"

"May, please. How about we go somewhere for a while. I think you just need to get out of this house."

What I really wanted to say was that I needed to get away from him. But, at the same time, I thought a vacation would be great. "Okay."

"Great! How about we go to Slateport and spend some time on the beach. I'm sure the sunshine will do you good." He smiled at me, it was the first smile I'd seen in days. I was so happy to see that smile that I embraced him once more.


	6. Chapter 6

~Chapter Six~

Brendan promised me that we would leave that day. We spent just about an hour packing. I wanted to stay as long as possible.

"How long were you planning on us being there?" Breandan asked me.

"As long as we can stand it. I don't want to be here. Every time I fall sleep in this house I get attacked. I haven't slept for more than a couple hours a night, and that's not counting all the times I fainted."

"Do you really think it's the house, May?"

"What else could it be Brendan?" I snapped.

"Okay, okay. You'll feel better when we get there. I promise." Brendan gently touched my cheek, then took my suitcase. We each only had one, so they were packed to the brim.

Brendan released his Skarmory outside of my house. "Wait," I said, "shouldn't we let your dad know?"

"I guess. We can call him when we get there!" He laughed. I couldn't deny his logic, I just wanted to leave. Brendan lifted me up onto Skarmory. Then he did something strange, he held both suitcases with one arm while holding my waist with the other one. Come to think of it, when he took both of the suitcases downstairs earlier he lifted them no problem. Usually he would complain when I made him carry stuff.

I didn't think about it too much. The view of the ocean was taking my mind off everything. Brendan took the long way on purpose.

Finally we landed in the sand. Brendan returned Skarmory as I stared out into the ocean.

"Ready to go?" He asked.

"Hold on..." I stared for a bit longer. "Okay!"

We walked up into town together. I was so excited. Not only was I going to have a vacation, but Brendan was back to his old self. I was practically skipping up to the pokemon center.

We got a room down deep in the center. I insisted on it so we didn't inconvenience any pokemon trainer that happened to come through. On another note, I wanted to make it hard for the beast to find me. The only downside was the two incredibly skinny beds. I plopped my suitcase on the floor at the end of my bed and threw myself on top of it.

"You know, there was a lot of pokemon trainers down on the beach." I suggested.

"Are you up for battling?"

"Of course. How else are we going to enjoy our vacation?"

"Point taken, you wanna go?"

"Yeah, help me up?" I always played that card. Nearly every time I sat down I would hold out my hand for Brendan to take.

He sighed and seized my hand. In seconds I was flying forward toward toward him. I thought I was going to get hurt until he caught me and held me close to his chest. Brendan never did that before. Usually he would moan and complain, then take my hand but do no work.

"When did you get so strong?" I asked him as I pulled away.

"I don't know... I guess it comes with age," He laughed. The combination of hearing his laughter and my lack of sleep made me laugh to.

"Alright, whatever. Let's get to the beach."

The two of us spent the entire day at the beach battling everyone. I haven't had such a fun day in weeks. Brendan and I had been so focused on moving in on our own I think we had forgotten how much fun battling can be. With all the money we made I was sure we would be able to have a great vacation.

Eventually, all the other trainers turned in for the night. I couldn't blame them, it was getting late. The sun had been down for hours. Brendan and I had been taking a break watching the moon rise over the ocean. It was the perfect scene, until I yawned.

"Not getting tired are you?" Brendan asked with a grin on his face.

"Of course. I would love to go back to the center before I fall asleep out here."

"Alright," he said while standing up, stretching.

I resisted the urge to ask him to help me up. We walked back to the hotel together. I didn't say much, I was just so tired. My mind was locked on sleeping for the whole entire night and not being attacked by some beast thing. Finally we navigated our way back to the room. But I was actually pretty scared.

"Brendan... Can I ask you something?"

"What?" He was already laying down in his bed. I was still standing next to mine.

"Um, can you, you know, not leave the room tonight. Every night you've been running off somewhere. Please, don't leave me tonight."

He sat up in bed. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. My headache's gone. I'm sleeping all night."

I smiled at him. My mind was finally at ease as I climbed into bed and drifted off to sleep.

My eyes snapped open as I heard the cry of a Wingull outside. It was morning... It was morning! I jumped out of my bed and felt my face. There was no cold sweat, no tears, no blood, nothing but skin!

"Brendan!" I said as I climbed up on his bed. "Brendan! Brendan! It's morning!" I started to bounce up and down around him.

"Yeah! Morning happens all the time, May!" He grunted as my jumping shook him around. Finally I body slammed onto him.

"Brendan! It's morning and I didn't get attacked, and I slept the whole night, and I'm okay!"

Brendan laughed at my overreaction. He tried to get out form under me and ended up scooting to the edge of the bed. Then he grabbed me and we fell to the floor. If I wasn't laughing so hard, it would have been funny. Then the reality set it when I realized how close I was to his face. I felt my cheeks get hot, then I pulled away from him and stood up.

"So, um, what do you want to do today?" I asked to change the subject.

"I don't know, we do have all that money."

"Alright, then it's a plan."


	7. Chapter 7

~Chapter Seven~

We ended up staying the better part of three weeks in Slateport. It was just so relaxing. I could finally sleep, Brendan wasn't getting headaches and running off, and we had an endless supply of money. Everyday we went down to the beach and annihilated everyone who dared to challenge us. Even the older experts in town couldn't beat us. Needless to say, we spent the money well.

Pretty much every night we went out to eat. One night we even went to a dancing party on the beach. All the fun and excitement almost made me forget about the horrible things that happened nearly a month ago.

"What should we do today?" Brendan asked me one morning. I meant to say something yesterday to him about how it had been one month exactly since his hand was bitten. However, I didn't want to ruin our vacation.

"I don't know... I think we should probably head back. We've been staying in this room for weeks. I'm kind of getting low on clothes."

"Oh, come on. I know you have enough for one more night here. Then we can leave tomorrow morning, I promise."

"Alright, fine. What can one more night do?"

"Yes! I'll make it unforgettable!"

Brendan did manage to make the day unforgettable. I don't think I ever had so much fun! We spent the morning at the beach, battling once again. Eventually, we decided to go into town and go in the Museum. I didn't know why, but we hadn't been there since the Team Aqua attack all those years ago, back when we were growing trainers. After the Museum we ate at the little shack on the beach by candlelight. It was the best time I had on the whole vacation.

"May... Would it be okay if we go back to the room?" Brendan said eventually.

"Yeah," I was really tired. "Are you okay?" He sounded weird.

"Not really. I'm starting to get a headache again, I think it's from all the sun."

I wanted to say something smart about it being night time and all. But I decided not to, I was tired. We walked back to the room pretty silently. I was trying not to fall asleep and Brendan was holding his head. As soon as we got in to the room Brendan fell onto his bed.

"Brendan, are you okay?"

"I don't think so..."

"Don't be such a drama queen. Let me feel your head."

It took him a few seconds, but eventually he rolled over. I gingerly touched his forhead and recoiled instantly. "Brendan! You're on fire!" He only groaned and rolled over. "I hope you don't mind staying for the night. I think it would be better if we're near a nurse."

"Okay," he whispered.

I walked around to face him. "You'll be okay," I gently kissed his steaming cheek. It was a gesture I made often when he was sick. Pretty much since the time I could remember. He managed a weak smile.

Once again I was in the same situation. My eyes were forced open by the images of terror in my head. I sat up in bed, practically hyperventilating. I remembered this old bit. Something in the back of my head told me to leave the room. Something was telling me to just go back to sleep. But the loudest something of all told me to look at Brendan's bed. My head turned reluctantly toward Brendan's bed. I scanned the whole room as my eyes traveled. When my eyes settled on the bed, it was empty.

Another stupid voice told me to go look for him. What if he had a headache? What if he needed my help? I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood on the floor. The room was dimly illuminated by the moonlight. I squinted through the darkness and made my way to the closed bathroom door. Everything in my body was shaking, I didn't want to, but I gently knocked on the door.

"Brendan?" I whispered. No answer. My hand slid down the wood to the cold door handle. The door gradually opened in front of me to reveal an empty, dark room. I exhaled and continued to think. I'm not sure what possessed me to leave the room, but I had to make sure Brendan was okay.

Before I knew it I was out in the pitch black hallway. Luckily, we had been there for so long I knew my way around and out. Soon I was in te main lobby, but something was wrong... All the lights were off, and the nurse was gone. Well, the nurse usually goes to bed, but the lights were never off...

"Brendan?" I called quietly. All I heard was my own echo. Something in my head spoke up again and told me to go the front door. My blind love for Brendan made me walk over to the door and pull the handle. Then I was outside in the dark city. I was so used to it being bright, sunny, and full of life. Now, it just seemed dead.

I walked aimlessly toward the beach. My guess was that he was there. Why not? He loved it there. As I steadily got closer, I saw something moving. I started to jog toward the sand.

"Brendan!" I called. I still got no answer, I figured he couldn't hear me. "Brendan!" I shouted again when I hit sand. What I was calling to wasn't Brendan...

I stopped dead in my tracks as I saw the beast stalking up and down the shore. My heart was beating out of my chest, I could hear it in my ears. I swear that my heart stopped when I saw those red eyes lock onto me.

The beast shuffled through the sand toward me. My eyes felt like they couldn't blink, my forehead was beginning to sweat again. It got closer and closer until I felt the sand it was kicking up bounce against my leg. I closed my eyes, expecting the worse.

I felt unbelievable force push against me, I flew backwards and hit shallow water. It was freezing, and the wet sand I landed on was rock hard. The unexpected hit caused water to enter my mouth and nose. I was not going to let this thing drown me. Before it got to me I splashed back to the shore frantically. It took me a second to stand up, but I finally got to my feet and began to run. That thing was fast though, it caught up to me and pushed me once again to the ground.

I sprawled on the sand, trying to catch the breath that was knocked out of me. My eyes were watering, and I started coughing and wheezing. I was almost sure this thing was going to kill me. The sand made it impossible to hear if the beast was coming. I rolled over to look. The thing was slowly advancing.

"Please," I begged, what other choice did I have? "Please, don't kill me. Please just go away..." I could barely speak, I wasn't sure if it even heard me. I wasn't really sure about anything because I fainted a few seconds later.


	8. Chapter 8

~Chapter Eight~

I woke up the next morning in bed. My head was pounding and every bone in my body was aching. Somehow, my weak arms pulled me up into a sitting position.

"Brendan?" I called. The room was incredibly clean and empty. I guessed Brendan was getting ready to leave. He rushed out of the bathroom to me call.

"Good! You're awake! How are you feeling?"

"Awful... What happened last night?"

"I found you outside on the beach, it looked like you tried sleep swimming."

"Brendan, that thing came back. It threw me into the water. I went out looking for you."

"I was in my bed the whole night, well, until I went out to find you."

I didn't want to argue with him. He wouldn't believe me if I just told him. I needed to find a way to show him. "I want to go home."

"Okay, let me help you." He took my arms and pulled me up. All of that getting thrown around was catching up with me. Brendan carried the suitcases outside while I supported myself on the wall. I felt like my ribs were knocked loose. Finally we got outside and climbed onto Skarmory. This time, Brendan took the short way home. When we landed, I practically fell off and walked into my house. My mother still wasn't there, but she was hardly ever home.

When I sat down at the table I found a note from Mom. It basically said she was doing more traveling. I threw the note aside and held my head. Brendan was unpacking upstairs while I tried to think of a way to prove that I was right.

"I'm done, everything's back where it was," Brendan said, sitting down at the table across from me.

"Brendan, I haven't been sleep walking."

"What else could it be?"

"If I tell you, you won't listen. I'm going to find a way to prove it to you though. I'm not sure how but... Wait, I can't sleep walk if I don't sleep!"

"What?"

"Yeah! If I stay up all night, then I can prove to you that I'm not dreaming."

"May, there's no way you can stay up all night. You could hardly make it to midnight."

"So? I can try can't I? I know I can do it. Besides, I only really need to make it to 3 or 4am. That's typically when that thing comes."

"May, you sound crazy."

"Do I? Cause I think I'm making perfect sense."

Brendan rolled his eyes at me. "Fine, just don't get yourself killed."

I laughed at his stupid little comment. It didn't completely register in my head.

After the sun went down, Brendan decided to go to bed. I wanted to join him so badly, but I had a point to make. It was something that I just had to do.

"Good night," I called up the stairs as I brewed a pot of coffee. It was only about ten o'clock. I was confident that I could make it.

It was pretty boring though. I basically just sat at the kitchen table and flipped through some books. My mind was all over the place, I couldn't really focus on the pictures I was staring at.

I managed to kill about three hours looking through every book I could grab. The boring activity I was doing didn't really make me anything but more tired. My head slowly drifted toward the table until it gently rested on it.

Suddenly my pokemon navigator went off. Before answering I checked the time, I was asleep for about thirty minutes.

"Hello?" I whispered.

"May? It's Birch, where are you?"

"I'm home." He hung up. I put my navigator down. Why would he call me at 2am just to know where I am?

I almost jumped out of my skin as the front door handle jiggled up and down. My mind told me not to answer it. But, it was probably Birch, so I got up and answered it. And it was Birch.

He came busting in. "May! I figured it out! I know what's wrong! I know what happened!"

I shushed him to try and calm him down. He was frantic. "What's wrong? What did you figure out?"

"Brendan was bitten by a Mightyena. An infected Mightyena! Infected pokemon are full of awful things, they get taken over by the viruses. When they're threatened, they bite humans. When people get bitten, the bite heals the next day. Then they have horrible side effects often turning into a disfigured Mightyena on every full moon night. Brendan got bitten, May!"

I didn't know what to say. "But, Professor... I've seen him a few-"

"You've seen him? You've seen him transform?"

"I think just hold on! I've seen the beast that he turns into way more times than two, there's only been two full moons since he got bitten. Why would he turn into it without the moon?"

Suddenly everything came together in my head. The first night was a full moon, so was last night. But, I found that moon stone. The one at Meteor Falls. The one I put on the shelf... The one that was upstairs with Brendan right now.

"Professor," I was breathing hard, "we have to get upstairs..."


	9. Chapter 9

~Chapter Nine~

My heart was racing. Birch just stared at me like I was insane, but did anything else really make sense?

"Why, May? What is it?" He looked terrified.

"I found a moon stone when we went to Meteor Falls! It's up in my room! That has to be it! It's the moon stone!" I was hysterical. Birch gave me a mortified look, he must have caught what I was freaking out about.

"I-I don't know what to do... We have to get it away from him!"

My feet took me across the kitchen and up the stairs faster than I ever had before. When I got to the top, however, my heart sank. The beast now know as Brendan locked his sights on me. He charged, and I was at the bottom of the stairs once more.

"MAY!" Birch screamed as he ran over to my huddled body. He was soon knocked away by Brendan who had just pounced down the stairs. I sat up, but something was seriously wrong. My arm was pulsing steadily with pain. I lifted up my sleeve to see it gushing blood, I must have gotten caught on one of Brendan's claws. I probably would have fainted if Birch hadn't of grabbed me.

"Come on, we have to get away from this," he pulled me up, causing me to scream. "What happened?" He gasped when he saw my arm.

"He got me... Let's just go..." Birch lifted me to my feet. I couldn't see where Brendan was, all I wanted was to get away. We were so close.

Brendan, obviously didn't want us to leave. He stood in front of the door. Birch's grip on my shoulders tightened. I was just about sure we were going to get killed by this beast. We were forced to slowly back away as Brendan inched towards us menacingly. Finally we hit the wall, then painstakingly slid down. I shut my eyes.

All I could think about were all the great times me and Brendan had had. For the past ten years there has been nobody I cared about more than him. He was my best friend. It hurt me to see him like this. But it hurt me even more that I never truly got to tell him how I felt. It hurt me that I was going to die at the hands- well, claws- of the one I love.

When I opened my eyes, all I could see was a pair of glowing red eyes glaring back. "Professor, I know what to do... I think it's worth a shot." I whispered.

"I-I'm up for anything..." Birch was shaky. I took a deep breath, it was going to be hard to speak clearly through the pain. However, I had to guess that Brendan had heard me every time I told him to leave me alone.

"Brendan," I began, trying to hold back tears, "Brendan I know you're in there. I know you can hear me. I never got a chance to tell you this, and I just this is my last shot..." Brendan growled slightly, then lunged at us. I screamed, "Please! Brendan, just listen to me!" The growling stopped, so I continued cautiously. "Brendan, I... I... uh-" More growling. The words just couldn't come out. I couldn't explain why I was about to say what I said, but I decided to cut to the chase.

"I-I love you, Brendan..." I closed my eyes as the tears rushed forward. "I just want the old you back..."

Brendan withdrew from us. He backed all the way up to the opposite wall. I began to cry harder, I was sure he was just trying to get a running start. Birch released his grip as he watched over Brendan. I closed my eyes, a combination of crying and the intense pain in my arm was killing me.

A few seconds later, something hard hit the floor. My eyes opened slowly to see my Brendan. The original Brendan. He was curled up on the ground with the moon stone sitting in front of him. I crawled across the room to sit next to him.

"May, I'm so sorry..." he whispered without looking up. "I never meant to hurt you."

"Well, to be honest you kind of did..." Why not be honest? He was the thing that was attacking me all this time, and he couldn't even tell me. "Why didn't you ever just tell the truth?"

"It's kind of a long story... The night after I got bitten it was a full moon. I tried to leave the room after I transformed but you always woke up. After you found that moon stone it gave me the biggest headache. Then it would wake me up. I tried to get rid of it, but when I touched it I would just transform. I didn't want to try to get rid f it during the day... Then it just started calling to me and waking me up. Everytime I saw you something would take me over. Then you would usually faint. I would stay with you until I transformed back. Then I would carry you back to bed."

"I don't understand Brendan... Why couldn't you tell me?"

"You never told me to."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember when we had the giant fight back when I first got bitten? I asked if we could be friends again, then you said 'only if you do everything I say.' When you said that to me, I really took it literally, I didn't want to lose you again. So, when I attacked you, and you told me to stop, I had to."

I didn't know whether to be annoyed or touched. It was incredibly cute, but he tortured me. His story was believable... But was it really? I guess I could test this theory. "Brendan, I want you to tell me why you wouldn't confess."

"I thought you would hate me."

"What?"

"I thought that if I told you I was the monster than was terrifying you then you would never want to talk to me again. I was just scared."

"You were scared? Try being thrown down the stairs and cut open by a beast." I rolled my eyes. "Brendan, I'm pretty sure if I've put up with you for this long, I can stand the fact that you're a monster. Besides, once I get rid of this," I grabbed the moon stone, "It will only be once a month."

Birch interrupted our conversation. "Okay you two, I think we can continue this when May has her arm treated."

Brendan stood up and helped me to my feet. He was still so incredibly strong, and I guess now I knew why. Birch led us outside to his lab. We wandered through the dark then I stopped half way there.

"Hold on, I'm getting rid of this." I took the moon stone out of my pocket. I held it with my good arm then threw it as hard as I could over the trees that led to the ocean. Brendan continued to pull me toward the lab. I was honestly starting to wonder if I could deal with him being a monster for the rest of our lives.

We got into the lab and Birch wrapped up my purple swollen arm. "Professor?" I asked as he was finishing up. "Is there any, um... Cure?"

"Well of course, just wait for the swelling to go down and-"

"No, I mean, it there any cure for Brendan?"

"Well, I can't really say. From all the research I've been doing, once you're bitten it's permanent. Of course, now that we know what's wrong with him it might be a little easier to control."

"How can we control it?"

"I might have an idea," Birch smiled at the two of us.


	10. Chapter 10

~Epilogue~

_Ten years later._

It may have taken us a while, but Brendan and I finally established our life together. Just about three years after our horrible adventure, Brendan proposed to me. The ceremony was held in Littleroot, right outside of our houses. We were able to skip our honeymoon to have some extra money.

Due to all of our battling and saving every bit of money ever, we were able to buy a small house in Verdanturf. I loved it there! I was able to get a job at the Daycare center, it wasn't a lot, but it was fun. Brendan spent a lot of time in Mauville, battling and offering advice to young trainers who passed through town. Everyone in town loved Brendan, there was no way to tell he was any different from anyone.

"Mom! Dad!" Our son came running down the stairs. "The sun's going down! The sun's going down!" He ran up to me.

"I see it, you want to go get Dad's necklace?" I asked with a huge smile.

"YES!" He ran off to his bedroom, where we usually kept it.

"Don't drop it this time Ciro!" Brendan called.

Ciro was back within seconds. "I got it!" Clasped in his hand was a bright orange, sun-shaped stone. All those years ago, Birch gave us the idea to use the opposite effects of the moon stone. Just to be safe, and to entertain our five-year-old, every night before the sun went down, Brendan would put on his sun stone.

"Alright, come here," Brendan lifted Ciro onto his lap. Then, Ciro lifted up his little hands to put the necklace around Brendan's neck.

"Dad, will you tell the story again?" Brendan must have told Ciro the story of his sun necklace a million times, but it never got old. He pulled our son closer to him and retold the nightmare that shaped our lives together. Of course, to Ciro, it was just a fairytale told by his father with a prop to end it.

"Now," Brendan finished, "I think it's time for you to get to bed."

Ciro hugged his father, then ran over to embrace me. After saying goodnight, he skipped off to his bedroom. I stared after him as Brendan stood up.

"You know it's the actual full moon tonight right?" he asked.

"Of course. How could I forget?" Since the incident, we had become extremely interested in astrology.

"What if it fails?" Brendan smirked while flicking his necklace.

"Oh, please. It's been ten years, I'm pretty sure it would have failed by now. Besides, it's not like I haven't dealt with it before."

He crossed the room to stand in front of me. "May, I'm so sorry. I really am. Everything that happened was my fault. I went into the woods after that thing, I got bitten, and I didn't listen to you. Then on top of everything, I attacked you." He slowly ran his fingers down my arm where the 14 inch scar from him was still visible. "I'm sorry."

I looked into his eyes, then smiled. "It's okay, Brendan. I think you've made it up to me."


End file.
